Bristle gathering and tuft loading apparatus for making brushes



March 29, 1966 G. s. cLEMENs 3,243,235

BRISTLE GATHERING AND TUFT LOADING' APPARATUS FOR MAKNG BRUSHES Filed Jan. l5, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet l March 29, 1966 G. s. cLEMl-:Ns 3,243,235

BRISTLE GATHERING AND TUFT LOADING APPARATUS FOR MAKING BRUSHES Filed Jan. l5. 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Eig. Z

Inventor* George 5. Clemens March 29, 1966 G. s. cLEMENs 3,243,235

BRISTLE GATHERING AND TUFT LOADING APPARATUS FOR MAKING BRUSHES Filed Jan. l5, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 George S. Clemens Bg, 3M, wwwbiv & Oqliornel March 29, 1966 G. s. cLEMENs 3,243,235

BRISTLE GATHERING AND TUFT LOADING APPARATUS FOR MAKING BRUSHES Inventor George S. Clemens B, 371ml', muklw8 [fal/- March 29, 1966 G. s. CLEMENS 3,243,235

BRISTLE GATHERING AND TUFT LOADING' APPARATUS FOR MAKING BRUSHES Filed Jan. l5, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fati] Inventor George S. Clemens 5g 3M,wwbiw& fHfornegaS United States Patent @fi Patented Mar. 29, 1966 ice 3,243,235 BRISTLE GATHERING AND TUFT LOADING APPARATUS FOR MAKING BRUSHES George S. Clemens, Northfield, Ill., assigner, by mesne assignments, to Carlson rI`ool & Machine Company,

Geneva, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Jan. 15, 1965, Ser. No. 425,769 4 Claims. (Cl. 300-4) The present invention relates to a brush making machine and more particularly it relates to an improved brush making machine having bristle gathering and feed means to automatically form tufts of varying bristle composition.

In the manufacture of brushes for the brushing of hair, cleaning of teeth, or for other purposes, it may be desirable to provide them with tufts having bristles of varying physical characteristics such as length, diameter, composition, flexibility, color, or the like. The present practice for placing bristles with such varying characteristics within the same tuft involves inter-mixture of said bristles Within a single bristle storage chamber and total reliance upon probability for distribution of the varying bristles from tuft-to-tuft in the brush.

In accordance with the present invention I have devised an improved bristle feed mechanism for gathering bristles and forming tugts that will provide uniform tuft composition from tuft-to-tuft each tuft being provided with bristles having differing characteristics. To accomplish this I provide a plurality of bristle storage chambers, one for each bristle type to be provided within a tuft, and means for gathering the varying bristle types from their separate storage chambers into combined tuft form in a predetermined ratio.

It, accordingly, is a general object of the .present invention to provide an improved brush making machine.

A further object of the present invention resides in the provision of an improved bristle gathering and loading apparatus for a brush making machine.

Still another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a brush making machine having improved bristle feed and gathering means.

An additional object of the present invention resides in the provision of an improved brush making machine having means to form tufts having inter-mixed bristles, the bristles having different physical characteristics.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of an improved brush making machine having bristle feed and gathering means adapted to gather bristles sequentially from bristle storage chambers and to provide a tuft of bristles with a predetermined ratio of bristles from one chamber to bristles from the other.

Still a further object of the present invention resides in the provision of an improved brush making machine having limit means operable in cooperation with the bristle gathering means to control and to vary the quantity of bristles gathered by the gathering means as it passes through the bristle gathering area of a storage chamber.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a brush machine having bristle storage means and bristle gathering means which in combination provide an assembly to permit formation of tufts having bristles gathered from more than one chamber of the bristle storage means.

A further object of the present invention resides in the provision of a brush making machine having improved bristle feed and gathering means that is easy to use, economical to manufacture, easy to repair, readily attended in operation and that is durable for continued use.

The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, together with further objects and advantages thereof, will best be .understood by reference to the following description taken 1n connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE l is a side elevation of the apparatus of the present invention illustrating the bristle feed means, the b ristle gathering means including the limit means and the tuft loading apparatus for insertion of the gathered tufts into the brush head;

FIGURE 1A is an enlarged, fragmentary view of a portion of the tuft loading means of the brush making machine disclosed herein; I

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged side elevation partly in section of a portion of the apparatus of FIGURE 1 illus- 'trating in detail the position of the elements of the apparatus in one operative stage and representing details of the tuft loading and stock limiting finger of the device;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary enlarged view of a portion of the apparatus of FIGURE 1 illustrating the stock limiting nger in a position different from that illustrated in FIGURE 2 and schematically representing the operation of said finger;

FIGURE 4 is a top view, partly in section, of the apparatus of FIGURE l, illustrating the bristle storage chambers and their relation to the path of movement of the bristle gathering or picking finger;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary, greatly enlarged View of the lower terminal of the common wall between the bristle storage chamber and illustrating the coaction of the buffer positioned between the chambers and the fixed and moveable fingers of the brush making machine;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary, enlarged view of the structure of FIGURE 5 taken along lines 6 6 of FIG- URE 5 and illustrating the bristle gathering or picking fingers in relation to the xed fingers, buffer and bristle storage chamber of the machine;

FIGURE 7 is a side elevation of another embodiment of the brush making machine illustrating a modified control element for movement of the stock limiting finger;

FIGURE 8 is a top view of the structure of FIGURE 7; land FIGURE 9 is a schematic illustration of a means that may be employed to control movement of the stock limiting finger of the modification of FIGURES 7 and 8.

Referring more particularly now to the drawings and specifically to FIGURE l thereof, the apparatus of the present invention is illustrated generally at 10.

A support bed 12 of suitable construction may be provided for mounting of the apparatus. The bristle feed means includes first and second storage chambers 14 and 16, respectively, for holding and feeding bristles to the bristle gathering means. The chambers 14 and 16 are separated by a common wall 1S. Each of the chambers 14 and 16 is open at the top and additional supplies of bristles may be dropped into said chambers from the top. Bristles B and B', as seen in FIGURE l, are stored in the chamber so that the longitudinal axes of the bristles are normal to the plane of movement of the bristle gathering or picking finger (described below). Separate storage chambers are provided so that bristles having different characteristics may separately be stored and fed to the gathering means for mounting within a tuft and to provide means for mounting bristles of differing characteristics within each `tuft by means other than chance. It should be observed that prior assemblies for the provision of brushes with tufts having bristles of different colors, different lengths, or the like, were dependent in large measure upon chance in the distribution of the bristles within a given tutt. The differing bristles were mounted in one storage chamber and fed at random to the bristle gathering member. It can readily be seen that wide variations in tuft configurations could occur and to this extent where reliability and reproducibility are important, the method is not acceptable. The present device involves total separation of the differing bristles and gathering in a predetermined manner to assure uniformity of mixture from -tuft-to-tuft.

The bottom terminals `of the storage chambers 14 and 16 are open and define exit areas to pass bristles from the chambers into the bristle gathering slot of the picking finger. The bristles, however, are retained within the chambers by the stock fingers 20 and 21 and by the gathering finger 22. Fingers 20, 21 and 22 extend in a plane normal to the axis of the bristles and under the open bottom of the chambers 14 and 16. In this manner the bristles B and B are caused to rest either upon the picking or stock finger, depending upon the position of the gathering slot, until gathered from the chambers by action of the bristle gathering means. The bristles in the chamber 14 and 16 are identified with the reference characters B and B', respectively, to indicate that the bristles differ from each other in at least one characteristic, That characteristic may be length, color, diameter, exure, or some other property.

Tlhe bristles B and B' in the bristle storage chambers 14 and 16, in the illustrative embodiment of the invention, are of differing length and diameter. This combination also provides bristles that exhibit different flexure characteristics. The apparatus of the present invention may be used, for example, in making the brush defined in my Patent 3,103,679, issued September 17, 1963, and relating generally to an improved toothbrush construction having tufts with inter-mixed long a-nd short bristles. The length differential between the short and long bristles in brushes of the type noted in the above patent may be approximately 1A@ inch. The diameter differential may be approximately 0.004 inch.

It should be noted that the walls of the chambers 14 and 16 adjacent the bristle ends, with the bristles stored as indicated above, extend downwardly into overlapping relation wit-h the horizontal area including the path of the slot of the picking finger. In this manner it can be seen that the walls of said chambers act to guide the bristles B and B into the picking slot of the picking finger and retain them in axially aligned relation within the slot under the transport movement where the picking finger carries the bristles from the bristle gathering area to the tuft mounting position, as defined in detail hereinbelow. In this manner, and using long and short bristles in the chambers 14 and 16 as noted above, the long bristles may be stored in chamber 14 and, thus, the short bristles in chamber 16. The lower terminal of the end walls of chamber 16 are such that the ends of the longer bristles pass therebeneath.

Slide means or guide members 24 and 26 are mounted on the support bed 12 in mutually spaced relation and extending vertically above the bed 12. The members 24 and 26 define guide means guidingly to receive the gripper member 28 of the tuft mounting apparatus, indicated generally at 30. The tuft mounting apparatus, 30 involves the gripper means 28 operative on the guides 24 and 26, the wire feed means 32, guide means 34 and the plunger or tuft inserter 56.

The gripper means 28 includes fingers 36 and 38 one each slidably received on the guide ways 24 and 26 of the tuft mounting means. The fingers 36 and 38, in cooperative relation, define a channel indicated generally at 40 which may be formed from mating recesses in the interfacial areas of the fingers 36 and 38. Slide member 42 is operatively associated with the gripper means 28 of the tuft mounting apparatus.

The slide means includes a drive rod 44 extending therefrom and mechanically interconnected by a linkage 46 (schematically illustrated in the drawings) to eccentric drive means 48, The means 48 may include a drive cam 50 having an eccentrically mounted pin mounting member 4 52. TheV linkage 46 is connected to the member 52 and oscillates with rotation of the drive cam 50. The cam 50 is drivingly mounted on a shaft 54 which, in turn, is operatively associated with a suitable power source (not shown).

The plunger rod or tuft inserter 56 is mounted in cooperative relation within the channel 40 of the gripper means 28 and is drivingly moved independently thereof. As seen in FIGURES 1 and 1A, a linkage 47 connects the rod 56 with the drive cam `51. Thus, the linkage 47 is drivingly connected at one end to the rod 56 and at the other end to the pin 53 of the cam 51. The linkage 47 and the drive cam 51 are adapted to drive the plunger or tuft inserter v56 substantially in unison with vertical movement of the fingers 36 and 38 of the tuft loading means. The plunger rod drive means, however, is adapted to move the rod 56 slightly lower in vertical movement than the fingers 36 and 38. The total extended movement of the rod 56 is sui-cient to move the bristles gathered by the gathering slot of the picking finger the distan-oe from the outer face of the brush head into the openings T of the brush head T to mounting therein. This distance will be defined by the depth of the opening in the brush head and the depth to which the bristles are to be inserted therein. Thus, the drive means for the plunger rod S6 is slightly offset with respect to the drive means for the fingers 36 and 38 such that movement of the rod and the fingers is substantially identical. In the last downward portion of travel of the rod 56 when the fingers 36 and 38 are approaching or about to contact the brush head, the fingers became stationary-while the rod 56 continues to move downwardly to insert the bristles within the opening T of the brush head T. Bolts 58 affixed to the rod 56 move in the slot opening 40 of the loader.

A drive bolt holder 64 is afiixed to the finger 38 and is defined by arms 66 and 63. The arm 66 extends downwardly and in the general vertical plane of the finger 38. The arm 68 extends outwardly of the gripper finger 38 and has a threaded opening 69 extending therethrough. A threaded bolt 70 is received within the opening 69 of said arm 68 and may be vertically threadably adjusted therein.

The apparatus of the present invention is provided with a picking finger or bristle gathering finger 22 having a bristle receiving slot 76 defined therein with an opening 78 facing upwardly Vtoward the bristle exit areas of the bristle storage cham-ber 14 and 16, The picking finger 22 is driven independently of the tuft mounting mechanism by an eccentric drive connected to the drive shaft 54. As seen in FIGURE 1 the finger 22 is mechanically linked through linkage 79 to the drive wheel 80. An eccentrically positioned pin 82 is mounted on the wheel 80 with the linkage 79 being operatively connected to said pin to govern the movement of the linkage and thereby the finger during operation of the device. In one embodiment of the invention described herein the pin 82 is positioned for rotation about a base circle f-our inches in radius to provide an overall eight inch stroke for the picking finger 22 for gathering the bristles from the storage chambers and delivering them to the tuft mounting means. The picking finger 22, in said one embodiment, was operated at a rate of 240 cycles per minute or 1A of a second per cycle. Each cycle is defined by a complete bristle gathering and a delivery operation so that 240 tufts, under continues operation, would be gathered and mounted each minu-te of the operation.

It should be observed that the drive member for the the picking finger, rod 56 or tuft fingers 36 and 38 may include a box cam, profile cam, or the like. The structure shown is for the purpose of illustration only and is not intended as restrictive.

The stock fingers 20 are pivotally mounted at one end at 84 (FIGURE l). The pivot plate 85 which is pivoted about the pivot pin 84 is affixed to the fingers 20. The

pvot pin 84 is suitably pivotally supported by the bed 12. The fingers 20 are vertically adjustable at either end thereof to provide for varying the bristle gathering action of the apparatus.

The fingers 20 are pivotally connected at the other end through bracket 89 and link 88 to a crank arm 90. The link 88 is pivotally connected at one end thereof to the pin 92 of the bracket 89 which is affixed to the fingers 20. The Other end of the link 88 is pivotally connected to the pin 94 which is afiixed to one arm 96 of the crank arm 90. The crank arm 90 itself is pivotally movable about the pivot pin 9S, said pin 98 is supported by the bed 12 or attached structure. The crank arm 90 is defined by a T-shaped structure including arms 96, 100 and 102. A crank arm return spring 104 is afiixed at one end to the arm 102 of the crank arm 90 and at the other end to a rigid support member indicated at 105.

The degree of clockwise angular movement of the crank `arm 90 and thus the limit of downward travel of the stock limiting member 20 is defined by the stop means 111. As seen the stop 111 includes a rigid support member 113 having a threaded opening 113 extending therethrough. A threaded bolt 11S is received in the opening 113 and may be threadably adjustably positioned therein. A lock nut 117 is provided to fix the position of the bolt 115 axially within the opening 113 by moving it securely against the member 113. The lock nut 117, of course, is threadably received on the stem of the bolt 115.

Movement of the bolt 115 axial toward the leg 102 of the crank arm 90 will restrict the clockwise movement of the arm 90 and thus the lowermost position of the stock limiting element 20. The upper surface of the stock limiting element 20 defines the maximum position of depth of the gathering slot of the picking nger and thus appropriate positioning of the element 20 is necessary to proper formation of the tufts with the apparatus disclosed herein.

The separating wall 18 between the chambers 14 and 16 is provided with an opening 19 at its lower portion and extending to the lower terminal of said wall 18. A buffer member 7 is inserted within said opening and is biased outwardly by spring S interposed between the buffer stem and the base of the opening 19. The buffer C includes a head portion C' which has a portion adjacent chamber 16 sloping downwardly.

Fixed lingers 21 extend into the exit area of the charnber 14 and are mounted such that the upper surface of each of said lingers 21 is in a plane slightly below the horizontal plane including the upper surface of the picking finger 22. Thus, it can readily be seen that the bristles B which normally rest on the upper surface of the picking finger 22, will drop down to rest upon the iixed fingers 21 when the slot 76 of said picking fingers moves into the exit area of chamber 14. It is understood, of course, that only those bristles B which extend into the slot 76 will move down into engagement with the fingers 21, the remaining bristles being supported by the upper surface of the picking finger 22. The fixed fingers 21 thus provide for limited picking of bristles B from the chamber 14 during passage of the slot 76 through the exit area of said chamber.

The operation of the apparatus disclosed above will be described for making of a brush as shown and claimed in my Patent 3,103,679 and having long and short bristles within each tutt of the brush.

As seen in the drawings, the long bristles B are placed in the bristle storage chamber 14 and the short bristles B are placed in the bristle storage chamber 16 of the apparatus. The length differential between the long and short bristles is approximately 3/16 inch, although other length differentials may be employed as desired. It should be noted that bristle differences other than length may be employed. For example, the bristles may vary in diameter, color, composition, or in some other characteristic. In the present illustration not only is the length varied 6 between bristles but also the bristle diameter in that the shorter bristles may be approximately 0.004 thicker in diameter than the longer bristles thus providing relatively rigid short bristles and relatively iiexible long bristles.

The apparatus as shown in FIGURE l is in position where the picking finger has already gathered a plurality of bristles from the bristle storage chambers and is returning them to the tuft mounting means for mounting of the bristles in the brush head T-or, if this is the initiation of operation the bristle gathering slot of the picking finger 22 may be empty and will cycle empty until it is returned to the bristle storage chambers to pick up materials.

To illustrate the operation of the .apparatus of the present invention, however, we can begin with the position sequence of FIGURE 2 (solid lines) of the drawings wherein the picking finger 22 has just delivered a plurality of bristles to the tuft mounting apparatus and is returning to gather another group while the just delivered group is being mounted within the opening T of the brush head T by the tuft mounting means.

ln the position defined above the gripping means 28 will have moved down upon its slide members. Downward movement of the gripper 23 will cause the bolt 70 in the arm 68 to engage the arm 100 of the crank arm 90 to pivot the crank arm about its pivot pin 98. When the crank arm pivots in a counterclockwise direction, as seen in FIGURES l and 2, the link 88 will be pulled up and will in turn, pull the stock fingers 20 along with it to pivot said fingers 20 about their pivot 84. When the stock fingers 20 reach their full up position the top surface thereof will be angularly above the horizontal plane of the top surface of the picking finger 22, at least in the exit area of the bristle storage chamber 16. Thus, it can readily be seen that bristles in chamber 16 are prevented from entering 'the bristle gathering slot 75 of the finger 22 as the slot passes through the exit area of 16 since they are supported upon the top surface of the stock fingers 20 and ride therealong rather than dropping into the slot 76. The angle of the upper surface of the stock elements 20 in relation to the upper surface of the picking finger 22 is determined by the position of the pivot 84 for said elements and the link and crank arm assembly for raising the elements 20 during operation of the brush making apparatus. The primary function of the stock limiting ngers 20, however, is to prevent bristles B' from dropping into the bristle gathering slot 76 of the picking linger 22 during movement of the slot 76 through the exit area of chamber 16 during initiation of a cycle of bristle gathering and transport. The bristles, in the apparatus disclosed herein, should be gathered from chamber 16 only during the return movement of the slot 76 through the exit area of said chamber. The bristle gathering sequence disclosed involves gathering of bristles first from the far chamber or chamber 14 and then from the near chamber or chamber 16. if more than two bristle storage chambers are involved the bristle gathering sequence may be vairied as desired.`

Operation of the brush making apparatus of the present invention is programmed such that the tuft mounting means is in position to hold the crank arm 90 in rotated position as in FGURE 2 until the slot 76 of the picking finger 22 has traveled from the bristle delivery position in the area of the tuft mounting means, through the exit area of the bristle storage chamber 16 having the shorter bristles therein and to the exit area of the chamber 14. Thereafter the gripper means 28 will have moved upwardly along its guides to a position where the bolt 70 will be moved out of engagement with the arm of the crank larm 90-the crank arm 90 being returned to its rest position against the bolt 11S under action of the spring 104. At this time the stock lingers 20 are moved to a position where the upper surfaces thereof are in a plane below the horizontal plane including the upper surface of the picking finger 22 and in its lowermost position to 7 permit gathering of the bristles from chamber 16 to form a tuft for delivery to the tuft mounting means of the brush making machine.

As noted in my Patent 3,103,679, the tufts are comprised of short and long bristles to provide improved brushing and cleansing action of the completed toothbrush. The short bristles of the brush may comprise approximately 30% to 50% of the total number of bristles in each tuft. The fixed fingers 21 may be adjusted vertically to permit a predetermined number of bristles to be gathered by the slot 76 during passage of the slot 76 of finger 22 through the exit area of the chamber 14. As the slot 76 Imoves into the exit area of chamber 14 the long bristles B immediately above the slot 76 drop into the slot to fully occupy the area defined by the slot between the upper surface of the finger 22 and the upper surface of the fingers 21. The fixed fingers 21 are vertically adjustable to permit the proper number of bristles B to enter the slot and to be gathered thereby.

As the slot 76 with the bristles B therein passes between the chamber 14 and the chamber 16 the bristles must be positively retained within the slot and moved downwardly therein into engagement with the upper surface of the stock lingers 2t). If there is no restraining action to hold the bristles in the slot they may spring out into the chamber 16 and mix with the bristles in that chamber. YIt can readily be seen that much mixing of this type eventually will result in gathering of bristles B from chamber B and will destroy the controlled ratio makeup desired for the tufts.

The cooperative action of the buffer element C and the fixed fingers 21 of the apparatus may more clearly be seen in FIGURE 5 of the drawings. The movable stock elements 2t) are in fully depressed condition at the time that the slot 76 of the picking finger 22 is moving from the exit area of the chamber 14 toward the exit area of the chamber 16. The buffer element C interposed between the chambers and in the path of the vslot 76 of the picking nger 22 will retain the bristles B within the `slot 76 Iand also will move said bristles downwardly within the slot 76 to provide room for the bristles B' from chamber 16 to drop into the slot to complete the tuft assembly.

As seen in FIGURE 5 the buffer member C is provided with a downwardly sloping face, the slope extending'down toward the chamber 16 from chamber 14. Likewise, the fixed fingers 21 are provided with a similar sloped portion adjacent and extending to the free terminal of said fingers. The buffer C, as seen more clearly in the elevation of FIG- URE 6, defines a channel-like section in the path of movement of the picking finger 22. The finger 22 moves in the path defined between the depending fianges of the buffer, said flanges extending downwardly in sloping fashion from a horizontal plane including the upper surface of the picking finger 22 to a point below said plane. The sloping face 21 of the fixed fingers 21 is in mating configuration to the face C -of the buffer C but in spaced relation thereto along the length of said sloped face.

It can be seen that when the slot 76 first moves into engagement with the back face CS of the buffer the bristles B that may be carried along with the slot 76 but which are not fully disposed within the slot are stripped away. Thus the face CS may be defined as the stripper portion of said buffer C with its function being to remove all bristles being carried along with movement of theslot 76 but not fully disposed within the slot.

When the slot 76 passes under the face Cs all excess bristles will be stripped therefrom and only the desired quantity of bristles will remain in the slot. As the slot 76 passes further under the buffer C the bristles come into engagement with the inclined face C', thereof. The face C' forces the bristles downwardly in the slot, said bristles being carried in grouped manner downwardly in said slot between the face C' of the buffer C and the face 21 of the fixed fingers 21. After the slot 76 of the picking finger 22 has fully traversed the buffer C the bristles B will be interposed in a lower position in the slot 76, the upper portion of said slot thus being empty and ready to receive the bristles B therein during passage of the slot 76 through the exit area of the chamber 16.

During the movement of the slot 76 through the exit area of chamber 16 a predetermined number of bristles B' will enter said slot to complete the gathering sequence of operation and fill out the tuft with the desired ratio cf bristles from the chambers 14 and 16.

It should be observed again that the apparatus of the present invention will function equally well with bristles in chambers 14 and 16 of differing characteristics relative to each other and different from those expressly noted herein in describing the operation of the present apparatus. The invention is not to be construed by the definition of operation herein to be limited to making of toothbrushes, or to making of lbrushes wherein the tufts differ only in the characteristics Vspecica'lly recited.

l When the slot 76 has passed 'fully through the exit area of the chamber 16 and completed the bristle gathering sequence it Awill move into the area of buffer 106. 'Buffer 106 serves a first function similar lto buffer C in that the 'face 166', first to be engaged 4by the bristles, strips the excess bristles 1B being carried along with lmovement of the slot 76 through the exit area of chamber 16 and leaves within the rslot 76 only those bristles that are fully vdisposed within said slot. The remaining length of the buffer 106 serves to retain the bristles B and B within the slot 76 of the picking finger 22 until ydelivery 'thereof to the tuft mounting means of the machine. To this extent the lower face of the buffer 106 is in a horizontal plane which includes the upper face of the finger 22 and thereby the upper terminal of the slot 76. The bristles are prevented from leaving the slot '7-6 by the lower face of the buffer 106. The buffer 106 may be maintained in engagement with the vbristles in the slot 76 by a spring member 107 which biases said buffer toward the slot v76 and into engagement with the bristles B and B `in said slot.

As the picking finger 22 is transporting the bristles B and B' to the tuft mounting means the gripping means 28 and plunger 56 are being brought downwardly toward the finger 22 by movement of their respective drive means. As the picking finger reaches the tuft mounting means the gripping means moves over the bristles.

Prior to movement of the gripper means 23 and plunger 56 to their tuft engaging position, the wire supply means will have moved a length of wire W'from a supply vspool (not shown) to the wire gripper means 32. The lower terminal 4portions of the gripping fingers 36 and 38 are provided with wire receiving slots therein. The wire carrier 32 of the apparatus moves the cut length of wire W from the wire supply means to a predetermined position beneath the descending fingers 36 and 38 and in the path of the slots of said fingers. The width of the wire carrier 32 is slightly less than the width of the opening between the lower terminal portions of the lingers 36 and 38 of the gripper means. As the fingers 36 and 38 continue to Vrnove downwardly the 'ends of the cut length of wire W move into theslots in the fingers 36 and 38, respectively, and the wire is captured in said -slots between the fingers. When the wire length W is vfully within the slots of the fingers 36 and 3S and movedrupwardly therein a predetermined distance the support of the wire carrier 32 is withdrawn and the wire carrier moves rearwardly (in FIG- URES l and 2) to receive a succeeding sheared wire length. The wire W is provided to define an yanchor for securing the bristles B and B within the brush head T.

The gripping means v28 and the plunger 56 continue to move downwardly in unison at this stage of operation. It should be observed that the picking finger 22 in operation of the apparatus described hereingrasps the bristles B and B in a position slightly off-center with respect to overall bristle length. The vertical movement of the fingers 36 and 38 of the gripping means and the plunger 56 of the tuft loading apparatus is in a path of movement off-set with respect to the longitudinal axis of the picking finger 22 but aligned with the center of the bristles B and B'.

As the gripper and plunger continue downward movement, the fingers 36 and 3S move along either side of the bristles B and B gathered in and retained in the slot 76. The bristles move into the area between the fingers 36 and 38 and against the wire W. The bristles are removed from engagement in the slot 76 and pulled downwardly with the continued movements of the grippers. As seen by the solid lines of FIGURE 2, the fingers 36 and 38 continue downward movement until they are fully within the guide member 34 which is provided with a shaped opening 34 therein to receive the fingers. At the lowermost point of downward movement of the fingers 36 and 38 the lower terminals thereof will be substantially in abutting engagement with the adjacent face of the brush head T and will define entry guides for insertion of the bristles B andv B into the opening T of the brush head T. At this point downward movement of the fingers 36 and 3S ceases. However, downward movement of the plunger or tuft inserter S6 continues through its independent drive means (defined above). The plunger 56 engages the bristles B and B and the `wire length W and folds them about its lower terminal asit begins to move downwardly with respect to the fingers 36 and 33. At the point of down- .ward travel where the bristles are substantially fully folded about the plunger 56 and the wire length W the bristles are .pushed by the plunger 56 from the engagement with the fingers 36 and 38 and into the opening T of the brush head T. The wire W is slightly longer than the diameter of the opening T of the brush head T and in this manner anchors the bristles within said openings. It can readily be 'seen that the wire may fiex slightly in one direction upon entry into the openings T and then straighten upon release of the plunger pressure to bite into the relatively softer walls of the brush head opening and prevent accidental withdrawal or removal of the bristles B and B from said openings.

As the gripper engages the tuft, the drive shaft 54 con- 'tinues to rotate moving the picking linger 22 back toward the exit areas of the chamber 14 and 16 to gather another group of bristles B and B. At the same time the crank arm 90 is depressed in the counter-clockwise rotated position to' bring the stock finger 20 up and thereby prevent entry of bristles from chamber 16 into the slot 76 during passage of the slot 76 through the exit area of said chamber.

As seen in FGIURE 4, the movable stock fingers 20 are in greater spaced apart relation in the tuft mounting area. As shown the fingers 2t) are spaced apart by a distance Y with one of the fingers 20 being bent away from the other to provide sufiicient space for entry of the gripping means 28 of the tuft mounting apparatus.

Another form of the present invention is illustrated in FIGURES 7-9, inclusive, of the drawings. All reference numerals are indicated with the same reference digits as the elements of the apparatus of FIGURES 1 6, inclusive, but with 100 added tto each reference number.

Bristle storage chambers 114 and 116 are provided in the same manner as in the device described in detail in conjunction With the disclosure relating to the apparatus of FIGURES l-6, inclusive. The moveable stock finger, as illustrated in the preferred embodiment of the invention, however, is replaced by a solenoid responsive finger 129. The stock finger 120 extends across the exit area of the chamber 116 and is adapted to be moved up to a position where the upper surface thereof is in the same plane as the horizontal plane including the upper surface of the picking finger 122. Thus, bristles B may not enter the slot 176 during passage of said slot through the exit area of chamber 116 during the time that the finger 120 is in the up position since the bristles will rest upon the finger 120.

When the slot 176 has gathered the predetermined number of bristles B from the chamber 114 the solenoid and related mechanism is programmed to drop the stock limiting finger 120 to permit entry of the bristles B into the slot 176 during return passage of the slot through the exit area of the chamber 116. In this manner the bristles B will be deposited in the slot 176 and the tuft completed with the desired ratio of long to short bristles, all as noted hereinabove. The bristles ride along bars 129 in movement toward the tuft loading area.

The finger 120 is connected to a plunger 210 of the solenoid 212. The finger and solenoid combination is arranged such that when no current is passing through the coil of the solenoid the finger 120 will be extended with the plunger 210 moving out of the coil. In this condition the finger 120 will be in the up position and will block entry of bristles B into the slot 176. When current is passing through the solenoid coil the plunger 210 is moved into the coil of the solenoid 212 and the finger is withdrawn from the elevated position to permit entry of bristles B' into the slot 176.

The current is switched on and off in the coil by the switch and cam combination 214. The switch 218 is provided with a switch arm having a roller element 220 at one terminal thereof. The roller 220 is adapted to ride upon the surface of a cam element 216 having a predetermined profile to define means to move the arm 219 to bias the switch to on or off position and thereby to pass or block current passage through the coil of the solenoid 212.

In the position shown in FIGURE 9 the elevated portion of the cam profile causes the arm 219 to move down and into engagement with a plunger 221. The plunger 221 is directly connected to the current switching element of the switch 218 to either open the circuit to the coil of the solenoid or to complete the circuit to the coil.

When the cam 216 moves to the recessed portion 216 it moves into the area in which the roller 220 moves. The roller 220 will follow the `cam profile, the arm 21-9 will raise away from the element 221 and the s witch will be directed to its other condition. Rotation of the cam 216 and the selection of the cam prole are programmed such that the finger 120 will be raised only during that portion of operation when the slot 17 6 is traveling through the exit area of the chamber 116 on the forward stroke where initiation of the bristle gathering sequence is occurring. During other periods of operation of the apparatus of this modification the arm 120 will be lowered to permit entry of the bristles B from chamber 116 into the slot 176 if the sl-ot passes through the exit area of said chamber.

While a specific embodiment of the present invention is shown and described herein it will, of course, be understood tha-t other modifications and alternative constructions may be used without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention. It is intended by the appended claims to cover all such modifications and alternative constructions as fall within their true spirit and scope.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. An article of manufacture for forming and mounting tufts in a brush head and having bristle feed means for gathering and supplying bristles for said tufts with differing bristle characteristics within each tuft, said article of manufacture comprising: a picking finger having a bristle gathering slot therein; drive means to move said picking finger in a path axially of said finger between bristle gathering and tuft mounting positions in said article; bristle supply means including at least a first and second bristle storage chamber, said supply means being mounted so that bristles exiting therefrom intercept the path of movement of the bristle ga-thering slot of said picking finger and are oriented with the bristle axis normal to the path of movement of said finger; a buffer element mounted between storage chambers of the bristle supply means and in the path of movement of the picking finger to retain bristles within the slot when said slot moves between chambers; limit means cooperatively associated with respect to said picking finger selectively to vary the depth of the slot and thereby the quantity of bristles that can be gathered Within the slot; and, mount- `ing means to engage the bristles gathered in said slot and to secure said bristles within said brush head in tuft form.

2. A brush machine for forming and mounting tufts within a brush head and having bristle feed means for gathering and supplying britsles with differing physical characteristics for each of said tufts, said machine comprising: a support bed; bristle storage means and defining at least a first and second bristle storage chamber, said first storage chamber adapted to store bristles with a dis-tinct set of physical characteristics and said second chamber adapted to store bristles having at least one differing physical characteristic, each said chamber having a bristle exit area; bristle gathering and transport means having a bristle gathering slot therein; drive means to move said bristle gathering and transport means between a bristle gathering position and a tuft mounting position, Said bristle gathering. means when in bristle gathering position passing within the bristle exit areas of said bristle storage means, said drive means adapted to carry the gathered bristles to tuft mounting position; a buffer element mounted between successive storage chambers and in the path of movement of the bristle gathering means to retain bristles within the gathering means when it passes between successive chambers and to move the bristles into a compacted relation in the gathering means during passage along the buffer element; a stock finger moveable with respect to Isaid bristle gathering means and acting in cooperation therewith to limit the quantity of bristles that can be gathered in a given pass of the gathering means through the exit path of at `least one of said bristle storage chambers; and tuft mounting means adapted to engage the gathered bristles when said bristle gathering and transport means is in the tuft mounting position and t-o secure said bristles within the brush head in tuft form.

3. An improved machine for forming and mounting tufts within a brush head wherein the tufts each have bristles therein of differing characteristics, said apparatus comprising: a support bed; a first bristle storage chamber mounted on said support bed and adapted to store bristles therein, each said bristle of said first storage chamber having one set of physical characteristics; a second bristle storage chamber mounted on said support bed in tandem relation to said first storage chamber and adapted to store bristles therein, the bristles of said second storage chamber differing from the bristles of said first chamber in at least one respect, said first and second storage chambers each having an exit area for passage of said bristles; a picking finger mounted on the support bed for movement along a path and having a slot therein to receive bristles when the slot passes through the exit areas of said first and second storage chambers; drive means to move said picking finger between bristle gathering position wherein the slot is moved through the exit areas of the bristle storage chambers and tuft mounting position on said apparatus; a buffer mounted between Said first and second chambers and in the path of movement of said finger to retain bris-ties within the slot when the slot passes between chambers and t-o move the bristles into the slot during passage along said buffer; limit means mounted on said support bed and adapted in cooperation with said picking finger to limit the quantity of bristles that may be gathered within the slot of the picking finger as the slot passes through the exit area of one of the storage chmabers; and tufts mounting means mounted over the path traveled by said picking finger in movement thereof between bristle gathering position and tuft mounting position to engage the bristles gathered by said slot in the picking nger when the finger is in tuft mounting position and to secure the bristles in tuft form within the brush head.

4. An apparatus for forming and mounting tufts within a brush head wherein the tufts have bristles of differing characteristics, said apparatus comprising: a support bed, a first bristle storage chamber mounted on said support bed and having bristles therein, said bristles having one set of physical characteristics; a second bristle storage chamber mounted on said support bed in tandem relation to said first storage chamber and having bristles therein, said bristles in said second chamber differing in at least one characteristic from the bristles in said first chamber, said first and second storage chambers each having an exit area for passage of bristlesr therefrom, a first finger mounted for movement on said support bed along a predetermined path, said finger having bristle gathering means to receive bristles when the slot passes through the exit areas 4of said first and second storage chambers; drive means to move said first finger between bristle gathering position wherein the gathering means is moved through the exit areas of the bristle storage chambers and tuft mounting position on said apparatus; a buffer mounted between said first and second chamber, and in the path of movement of said first finger to retain bristles within the gathering means when passing between chambers; a second finger mounted for movement on said support bed and adapted in cooperation with said first finger to vary the size of the gathering means of the first finger and thereby limit the quantity of bristles that may be gathered as said gathering means passes through the exit area of at least one of the storage chambers; and tuft mounting means to engage the bristles gathered when the first finger is in tuft mounting position and to secure the bristles in tuft formwithin the brush head.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 578,907 3/1897 Young 300-5 920,588 5/1909 Lehberg 300-5 2,243,495 5/1941 Baumgartner 300-4 2,709,625 5/1955 Carlson 300-7 3,128,126 4/1964 Schneckenburger 300-7 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,028,969 4/1958 Germany.

GRANVILLE Y. CUSTER, I R., Primary Examiner. 

1. AN ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE FOR FORMING AND MOUNTING TURFS IN A BRUSH AND HAVING BRISTLE FEED MEANS FOR GATHERING AND SUPPLYING BRISTLES FOR SAID TUFTS WITH DIFFERING BRISTLE CHARACTERISTICS WITHIN EACH TUFT, SAID ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE COMPRISING: A PICKING FINGER HAVING A BRISTLE GATHERING SLOT THEREIN; DRIVE MEANS TO MOVE SAID PICKING FINGER IN A PATH AXIALLY OF SAID FINGER BETWEEN BRISTLE GATHERING AND TUFT MOUNTING POSITIONS IN SAID ARTICLE; BRISTLE SUPPLY MEANS INCLUDING AT LEAST A FIRST AND SECOND BRISTLE STORAGE CHAMBER, SAID SUPPLY MEANS BEING MOUNTED SO THAT BRISTLES EXITING THEREFROM INTERCEPT THE PATH OF MOVEMENT OF THE BRISTLE GATHERING SLOT OF SAID PICKING FINGER AND ARE ORIENTED WITH THE BRISTLE AXIS NORMAL TO THE PATH OF MOVEMENT OF SAID FINGER; A BUFFER ELEMENT MOUNTED BETWEEN STORAGE CHAMBERS OF THE BRISTLE SUPPLY MEANS AND IN THE PATH OF MOVEMENT OF THE PICKING FINGER TO RETAIN BRISTLES WITHIN THE SLOT WHEN SAID SLOT MOVES BETWEEN CHAMBERS; LIMIT MEANS COOPERATIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH RESPECT TO SAID PICKING FINGER SELECTIVELY TO VARY THE DEPTH OF THE SLOT AND THEREBY THE QUANTITY OF BRISTLES THAN CAN BE GATHERED WITHIN THE SLOT; AND MOUNTING MEANS TO ENGAGE THE BRISTLES GATHERED IN SAID SLOT AND TO SECURE SAID BRISTLES WITHIN SAID BRUSH HEAD IN TUFT FORM. 